


Double Trouble

by Latte_Hottay



Category: Hatchetfield Universe - Team StarKid
Genre: Angst, F/M, Injury, Nightmare Time Episode 3: Forever & Always, Stabbing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-23
Updated: 2021-02-23
Packaged: 2021-03-14 04:15:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,023
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29661603
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Latte_Hottay/pseuds/Latte_Hottay
Summary: Emma Perkins and Paul Matthews both have a different story. Unfortunately, their stories share a similar ending.
Relationships: Paul Matthews/Emma Perkins
Kudos: 9





	Double Trouble

**Author's Note:**

> The last one of my Nightmare Time stories that I hadn't uploaded yet :)
> 
> This is my first oneshot to be over 3k words, which is a milestone on its own, but according to AO3 statistics, I also passed 100k total, which is just insane to me. I started writing to get better at English and here I am a year and a half later, writing every single day and working on plotting an actual original book series.  
> Thank you for reading and supporting me❤
> 
> TRIGGER WARNINGS:  
> -Car crash  
> -Stabbing  
> -Death  
> -Needle mention  
> -Injuries
> 
> SPOILER WARNING:  
> This story contains major spoilers for Nightmare Time episode 2, specifically Forever & Always.  
> (This will be the last time I put a spoiler warning.)

Emma sneaked upstairs, the newspaper her father had left on the table in her hand. Earlier today, she noticed a small advertisement asking for someone to be part of an experiment. Usually, she wouldn’t have cared about some dumb science project, but she could use the two-hundred bucks they offered, so she could finally escape this hellhole and travel around the world.   
  
She dialed the number, and after it had rung for a few seconds, a female voice spoke up. “Coven Communications, Research and Power, Sylvia speaking, what can I do for you?”   
  
“Yeah, hey, I saw your ad in the Hatchetfied Gazette, do you still need someone?”   
  
“We do! What’s your name?”   
  
“Emma Perkins.”   
  
A short silence followed. “How old are you?”   
  
“Twenty-five.”   
  
“And would you be available at short notice? Tomorrow, for instance?”   
  
“Yeah, but could you maybe give me some more information first?”   
  
The woman cleared her throat. “Why, of course! We will just perform a few tests to make sure you’re in good health, and then we take a small DNA sample. It shouldn’t take longer than two hours.”   
  
Emma nodded despite the fact that the woman couldn’t see her. Two-hundred bucks in two hours, that’s over ten times more than she makes at her job at a small gift shop downtown. “And what will that DNA be used for?”   
  
“Well, here at CCRP we’re trying to make  _ androids _ , or human robots. We need a few people to provide the ‘base’ for these machines. Doesn’t it sound cool? Within a few decades, there might be an android that looks just like you!”   
  
“Sounds good! Tomorrow, you said?”   
  
“If you give me your email, I’ll send you the details.”   
  
After Emma gave her email and hung up, she checked her computer, and it didn’t take long for the notification to pop up.

**_Dear Ms. Perkins,_ ** **_  
_ ** **_  
_ ** **_CCRP thanks you for your interest in our research. We scheduled your appointment for tomorrow at 10 AM. Click the link below for directions to our building._ ** **_  
_ ** **_  
_ ** **_Kind regards, Sylvia (Coven Communications, Research & Power)_ **

Emma smiled as she closed the tab, grabbing the small suitcase from under her bed and walking around her room to put her important belongings in there. When most of the shelves were empty, she sat down behind her desk, writing a note to her parents.

**_I left. Don’t bother calling. Tell Jane I love her._ ** **_  
_ ** **_-E_ **

*** *** ***

As Paul sat down on the couch, he realized his mistake. He’d forgotten to throw his cup away after he had finished his coffee. He didn’t like to give the cleaning staff more work than needed, and regularly stopped to chat with the nice lady who always started her shift by watering the plants.   
  
He looked at the clock. 9:45. The staff would be done by now. He sighed, telling himself to leave his workplace extra clean the next day.

*** *** ***

Emma looked up at the massive building and saw the big letters that spelled out ‘CCRP’, with smaller letters that read ‘oven’, ‘ommunication’, ‘esearch’, and ‘ower’. She walked inside when a tall man in a suit held the door open for her, and she smiled awkwardly at him. He smiled back, a blush spreading across his cheeks.  _ What a loser _ , she thought,  _ can’t even look at a girl without his face turning red _ .   
  
She walked towards the desk, where a woman with red curls was talking to someone. Emma smiled when she saw the small sign that said ‘Sylvia’ on her desk.   
  
Sylvia excused herself from the conversation and turned to Emma. “You must be Emma!”   
  
Emma nodded, and the woman smiled.   
  
“Come with me!”   
  
She led her through a maze of halls and staircases, pulling out her keycard multiple times to open locked doors. When they stopped in front of a metal door, she typed in a code on a keypad. “I have to get back to work, but those guys will take good care of you. Come say goodbye when you’re done, okay?”   
  
Emma nodded, and the door was pushed open, and closed behind her with a  _ ‘clank’ _ . Three men in lab coats smiled at her.   
  
“Welcome! I’m Vincent,” one of them said, shaking her hand. He didn’t seem much older than her, though the other two scientists looked to be double his age. “We just want to weigh and measure you before we start, is that alright?”   
  
Emma nodded, taking off her shoes and stepping on the scale while the men quickly scribbled something down on their clipboards. After they measured her, they sat down at a table.   
  
“So, I’m glad you’re interested in our experiment!” Vincent told her. “You just have to sign a few consent forms and answer a few questions about you and your family’s medical history, and then we’ll make a 3D scan and take a few DNA samples. Sounds good?”   
  
Emma nodded, scanning over the papers he handed her and signing on the dotted line. He handed her more forms with questions about her and her close relatives.   
  
She hated being so open, but she constantly reminded herself about the money. Only a few more hours, and she would be 35,000 feet in the air, away from the town she hated so much.   
  
Vincent smiled when she put the pen down. “Alright,” he said, pushing his chair backward and standing up. ”Come with me.”   
  
He led her to another room, where he handed her a clothing hanger with what looked like a hospital gown. “Please put this on, then we can start. You can leave your underwear on, as long as they don’t have any metal parts.”   
  
He left her alone in the room without saying another word. Emma hesitantly changed into the gown, feeling the smooth fabric on her skin.   
  
“I’m done!”   
  
“Perfect!” Vincent spoke through a speaker, and one of the other scientists came in, guiding her towards a big machine that reminded her of a hospital. He sat her down without saying a word, gently pushing her until she lay flat on the hard surface when Vincent spoke up again. “It’ll be a bit loud, but it will only take a couple of minutes, we will make a scan of your body and bone structure, so that we can replicate it!”   
  
Emma nodded, laying her head down on the pillow as the man adjusted her position.   
  
“Okay,” Vincent said after the man had left the room. “We’re starting now, close your eyes and relax, okay?”   
  
Emma looked at the small line going over her legs, like a printer making a copy of an important document. She closed her eyes as the line hit her face, but she could still see the light shine through her eyelids.   
  
As the machine whirred and moved around her, she thought about where she would go. Her bags were packed, and her plan was to go to the airport and take the first plane to a warmer country. She failed to keep herself from smiling at the thought, but the machine had already stopped.   
  
She opened her eyes, standing up when they told her she could, and changed back into her sweater and leggings.   
  
When they were back in the lab, the men told her to sit down.   
  
“We’re just going to take a few different DNA samples, and then you can leave!”   
  
Emma smiled, looking at them as one of them put on a pair of gloves and grabbed a cotton swab. “Have you eaten anything this morning?”   
  
“I only had a glass of water after brushing my teeth. I was going to get something after this.”   
  
“Okay. How long ago was that?”   
  
“I don’t know, a few hours?”   
  
“Okay. Open your mouth please.”   
  
Emma did as he said and sat there for a few moments while he swabbed her cheek.   
  
He placed the swab into a small container, and grabbed another one. “We’ll do two, just in case.”   
  
Emma nodded, opening her mouth again, and he swabbed her other cheek.   
  
“Perfect! We also have to get a few hairs, but it won’t hurt much.”   
  
Vincent grabbed some tweezers from a tray, and pulled a few hairs from her scalp. Emma winced, but smiled awkwardly when he apologized.   
  
“That’s it! Just a small blood sample, and we’re done.”   
  
Emma looked away as soon as her eyes fell on the needle, but she didn’t fight when he came closer. She really needed the money.   
  
“Alright, all done!” He removed his gloves after labeling the vial. “As promised, your two-hundred dollars.” He handed her twenty ten-dollar bills, and she shook his hand.   
  
“Good luck with your research,” she told them. “Bye!”   
  
She pocketed the bills as she left the building, and walked home, where her bags were waiting for her. She placed the note to her parents on the dining table, and left.   
  
When she’d arrived at the airport and had inspected the big screens displaying the next takeoffs, she walked to one of the counters.   
  
“One ticket to Guatemala, please.”

*** *** ***

Five years later, on his way to work, someone waved at Paul from across the street. He looked around, but he was the only one there. So he waved back.   
  
“I had fun yesterday!” the stranger said, before entering the Starbucks.   
  
Paul shrugged. He must’ve thought he was someone else. Ted always told him he looked like that attorney that defended Bill when he divorced his wife. It was probably just someone who knew that guy, who thought Paul was his friend.   
  
He didn’t think much of it, but maybe he should’ve.

*** *** ***

Emma hadn’t planned to stay in the same place for six years, but she found herself coming back to the hostel she first stayed at every time. The owner, Pete, let her help him with small chores, in return for a place to stay and enough money to buy food and an occasional souvenir.   
  
“Hey, Pete!” she greeted, slapping twenty bucks onto the counter. “I think I’ll spend my free day going on a small trip. Can I have a ticket for the bus to Tikal?”   
  
Pete laughed. “What do you need two tickets for? Is Emanual coming?” He whistled.   
  
Emma rolled her eyes. “I told you, we  _ broke up _ . Can I have  _ one _ ticket, please? And can you keep my room key with you ‘till I get back? I don’t want to take too many valuable things with me.”   
  
“Sure!” he said, taking the key and handing her the ticket. “Have fun out there!” He slid the money back. “Buy something nice for yourself.” He winked, turning his back to her before she could refuse.   
  
Emma shrugged, putting the money away, before heading towards the tour bus.   
  
She petted one of the chickens in the wagon tied behind the vehicle while she waited for the driver to arrive. A few more people were waiting, but when they got in, only half of the seats were taken. About thirty people were chatting happily, all excited to go sightseeing, pointing into the distance, their camera’s flashing.   
  
The driver turned the steering wheel, the wheels screeching on the gravel road. He laughed when a few people gasped as a couple of stones disappeared into the ravine.   
  
The rest of the journey wasn’t much different. The tourists would relax, pointing out the beautiful view, and the driver would make a sharp turn again.   
  
At least, that was what he tried to do. The driver laughed as he turned the wheel, but it was too late. He stepped on the breaks, but the bus went flying off the edge. The screaming and shattering of glass accompanied the pain that shot through Emma’s body. And then…   
  
Silence.

*** *** ***

“What do you mean  _ ‘I can’t use the same coupon twice’ _ ? I haven’t been to this store in months!”   
  
“Sir, I get you want another discount, but you can’t ask your family to give you their coupons, just so you get a free shirt. It says it here:  _ ‘One coupon per customer’ _ .” She pointed at the words. “I remember you from this morning.”   
  
Paul looked at the teen, surprised. “I haven’t been here since you still had the winter collection!”   
  
“I’m sorry, sir, but there are more people in line. Are you gonna pay or leave?”   
  
“I- I’ll pay?” He grabbed his wallet, handing her a twenty and putting the shirts in his bag. “Have a good day.”   
  
The girl put on a fake smile. “You too, sir. Next!”

*** *** ***

The journey home had been a nightmare. Being injured in the middle of nowhere without a phone wasn’t on Emma’s bucket list, but here she was. At least she could make a tourniquet from a scarf she’d found before the bus caught on fire, turning the corpses and their belongings to ash.   
  
She sucked in a pained breath as Pete removed the scarf from her leg, resting her head against the wall and closing her eyes.   
  
“You know, if I’d known the driver was such a maniac, I would’ve never gotten onto that bus.”   
  
Pete chuckled, looking through his nearly-empty first aid kit. “Yeah. Eduardo is a good guy, but he likes to joke with people.”   
  
Emma bit her tongue as he poured some sort of disinfectant over the deep scrape that covered most of her calf. “The breaks were out,” she told him. “He tried to stop, but it was no use. I was the only one who made it out, together with a few chickens. The rest of them are drumsticks now,” she tried to joke, a welcome distraction from the pain as he wrapped a bandage tightly around her leg.   
  
It didn’t look sterile, but she knew he couldn’t afford much more, so it’d have to do.   
  
After he was done and put the box back under the counter, she carefully stood up. “Can I have my keys? I’d kill for a bath right now.”   
  
“I already gave it to you,” he told her. “And you shouldn’t get your leg wet.”   
  
“What?”   
  
“If you get it wet, it-”   
  
“No, about my keys. You didn’t give them to me.”   
  
Pete laughed. “I did, remember? You came in only a minute after you left, you said you changed your mind and that you’d take it with you.”   
  
“I didn’t!”   
  
Pete put a hand on her shoulder. “Hey, it’s alright if you lost it in the crash, no need to lie. I still have a spare key, so-”   
  
“I didn’t take it with me!”   
  
His hand moved to her head, pulling it forward a bit so he could see the top of it. “Did you hit your head when you fell? Becau-”   
  
Emma pushed him away, giving in. “Sure, I lost it, if that’s what you want to hear. Can you unlock the door?”   
  
Pete smiled, grabbing a bunch of keys on a keychain from the small souvenir shop in the hostel. “Let’s go.”   
  
He helped her up the stairs and opened the door, holding the key up so he knew she saw it when he put it on the desk, before leaving.   
  
Emma sat down on the bed, when she noticed what was wrong. Her bag wasn’t under the desk, where she left it. And when she opened the closet, her suitcase was gone.   
  
She had nothing.

*** *** ***

Paul smiled as he looked at the bouquet in his arms. His hand went to his pocket, feeling the small box that had cost him at least three paychecks.   
  
Today was a big day.   
  
Correction: Today was his  _ last  _ day.   
  
He dropped the flowers when he was pulled into the alley, and his eyes went wide when he saw who was holding him.   
  
It was like he was looking into a  _ mirror _ .   
  
That was the last thing he’d ever see. There was no time for terror or confusion before the knife came down.

*** *** ***

Emma stared at the ocean below.   
  
Back to Hatchetfield.   
  
It wasn’t the plan, but she had to. She hadn’t seen Jane since she’d left, and after her phone got stolen, she didn’t have a way to contact her sister. She missed her.   
  
The land came closer, and the plane landed with a thud.   
  
She didn’t have to wait for her luggage, all she had was in the backpack slung over her shoulder.   
  
Breathing in the fresh air of the place she’d once called home, she walked to the park.   
  
It was late. She’d find out where Jane lives the next day.   
  
For now, sleeping on a park bench will have to do.

*** *** ***

“Emma. Hey, Emma!”   
  
Emma startles, turning around. Who would remember her? Who would be excited to see her? Some tall dude, apparently. “Yeah?”   
  
“Hey, baby…”   
  
He leaned in to kiss her cheek, but she shoved him away. “Woah! Woah! Back off, man!” Who the  _ fuck _ was this dude? Some high school boyfriend?   
  
“Sorry, I was just… giving you a kiss?” he stammered, eyebrows furrowed in confusion.   
  
“What is your problem?”   
  
A passerby approached them when the man tried to defend himself, and soon, more people gathered around the two. The man throws his hands up in surrender. “If I could just explain…”   
  
The passerby grabbed his arm. “Why don’t you explain  _ away _ from the lady?”   
  
How did that dude know her name?   
  
“You stay away from me! You stay away!” she called after him as he took off.   
  
She thanked the stranger that helped her, before walking away herself.   
  
Who has the guts to do something like that?

*** *** ***

Paul Matthews 23, that’s who.   
  
Too bad she realized that a little too late.   
  
If she had just listened to him, she wouldn’t have been here, fighting with her doppelganger who wasn’t even supposed to exist for another few decades.   
  
If she had just listened to him, she wouldn’t be desperately trying to convince him to give her the knife, and not that murderous robot, who had already killed so many people using  _ her _ name.   
  
If she had just listened to him, she wouldn’t have to see him raise the knife into the air.   
  
If she had just listened to him, she wouldn’t be a corpse, rotting at the bottom of a lake while some evil machine got to live  _ her _ life.


End file.
